The HfP chat thread – Monday 23rd August

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• Pid says:

  23 Aug23 August 14:33

  Is BA still cancelling flights from Porto at the moment as have one booked in early Sep?

  • Richie says:

    23 Aug23 August 15:11

    Seems Friday flights are still there.

    • Barnaby100 says:

      23 Aug23 August 18:23

      Friday inbound is still there but not outbound (10th sept)

      • Barnaby100 says:

        23 Aug23 August 18:26

        Take that back it has appeared again. Wasn’t showing earlier I am sure

  • Memesweeper says:

    23 Aug23 August 16:38

    No longer daily. I’m rebooking tomorrow as a result sadly … might end up with Die-in-Air

    • meta says:

      23 Aug23 August 19:10

      It will probably run for 1-2 weeks in September and then they cancel it all together. This is one of most unreliable routes for BA.

• Benilyn says:

  23 Aug23 August 14:34

  Stratford Upon Avon Indigo trip upcoming, any recommendations?

  • mark2 says:

    23 Aug23 August 15:02

    The restaurant within the hotel (Woodsman) which specialise in game which has had to be culled cooked over a wood fire.
    We had our wedding reception there (then Falcon) in 1975.

    • Sean says:

      23 Aug23 August 20:48

      Agree with Woodsman – but is currently closed at Lunchtimes so that they can (with limited staff) do a full evening sitting.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    23 Aug23 August 15:29

    Decent no frills lunch at mida just across the road.

    Loxley’s isn’t bad
    Salt seems to be well liked
    Caffeine and machine isn’t too far from Stratford if you enjoy cars

    • Sean says:

      23 Aug23 August 20:48

      Also agree on salt if you can get a table

  • Yorkieflyer says:

    23 Aug23 August 23:06

    Swap to York

• CM says:

  23 Aug23 August 14:36

  Does anyone know if you can UUA on one of the flights booked using the current part pay with Avios offer?

  • Tim says:

    23 Aug23 August 14:45

    It’s still a cash payment, so yes. Just check you’re not booking into a class that isn’t upgradeable. Q,O,G if I recall correctly

• bafan says:

  23 Aug23 August 14:42

  Looking at going to Canada in September (reopens on September 7th). Domestic flights are mad expensive…any Avios redemptions out there? I think Westjet are affiliated with Skyteam now so I guess not but I thought I’d double check…

  • Tocsin says:

    23 Aug23 August 15:03

    Double check that – I think the restrictions have been extended 🙁

    • bafan says:

      23 Aug23 August 15:08

      I think that’s the U.S. / Canada border, no? I’m looking now and can’t see anything, and BA are ramping up service from then too…

      August 9, 2021: Border changes
      Fully vaccinated foreign nationals will be allowed to enter Canada for discretionary travel on the following dates if they meet specific criteria:
      August 9: American citizens and permanent residents of the United States, currently residing in and arriving from the United States, and who qualify for the fully vaccinated traveller exemption
      September 7 (intended start date): All other foreign nationals who qualify for the fully vaccinated traveller exemption

      From the government website…

    • James says:

      23 Aug23 August 15:19

      The plan to open to international visitors to Canada for September hasn’t changed, it’s September 7th.

      US/Canada border restrictions were extended

      • JDB says:

        23 Aug23 August 17:34

        The 7 September date is still shown as ‘tentative’ and ‘intended date’ on the Canadian govt web site.

    • Paul says:

      23 Aug23 August 15:50

      As above, just the US Canada land border. We’re (hopefully) going to Vancouver on 16th, and it seems BA are hopeful too, as they’ve just added a second daily service Tuesdays and Thursdays….

  • Lev441 says:

    23 Aug23 August 15:54

    Where you looking at going? WestJet flights are bookable via Qantas frequent flyer..

    • bafan says:

      23 Aug23 August 17:13

      Oh that could be interesting…Montreal to Vancouver is what I had my eye on.

• Jody says:

  23 Aug23 August 14:58

  Probably been mentioned, but noticed when checking my Amex statement on the app today that there is a discount code for Collinson tests. Code is AMEX20. Makes the unsupervised antigen test with fit to fly certificate for returning back to the UK £23 which seems very reasonable. I haven’t filled out the form to go through with the purchase, so don’t know if there is any p&p costs.

• Muhammad Abdullah says:

  23 Aug23 August 14:59

  Is Expert Medicals bust? I’m shocked a company can operate, accept card payments without a hint of a company number, an MD, it’s a ghost company.

  • Anna says:

    23 Aug23 August 15:03

    That might explain why my recent day 2 test order hasn’t turned up yet! May need a Plan B, though to be honest, as long as the PLF accepts my invoice number, who cares?

    • His Holyness says:

      23 Aug23 August 15:06

      I’ve got a tracking number on DPD but the package hasn’t been collected from Bradford

    • Anna says:

      23 Aug23 August 15:13

      It’s not looking good – DPD website is still saying they haven’t received my parcel yet 😬

    • Yorkieflyer says:

      23 Aug23 August 23:09

      No one

  • Harry T says:

    23 Aug23 August 15:10

    You are giving them money for a code for your PLF. The entire testing system is a silly racket. Doesn’t matter if the test never shows up, as long as the email with the code does.

    • Anna says:

      23 Aug23 August 15:15

      To be fair we got all 3 previous orders, plus results – whether or not they actually tested them!

      It’s going to be interesting now if anyone gets chased up for a test result. Government-approved company goes belly up and can’t deliver what customers have paid for.

      • Anna says:

        23 Aug23 August 15:28

        Hmm, trust pilot is awash with reviews complaining that tests haven’t turned up in the last few days!

        • Anna says:

          23 Aug23 August 15:29

          Isn’t there someone on here whose cousin runs this company?! Perhaps they can give us an update given how much business this site put their way.

  • Andrew says:

    23 Aug23 August 15:41

    Why be shocked?

    We’ve all seen the adverts on TV for hairdressers accepting credit cards for their business.

    You don’t need a company number, an MD, a CEO or even a Finance Director to operate as a sole trader.

    • His Holyness says:

      23 Aug23 August 16:54

      But you do need to have a company ID on a website, its a legal requirement, their turnover is huge, it must be in the millions by now

    • Rob says:

      23 Aug23 August 16:59

      Indeed 🙂

  • BP says:

    23 Aug23 August 15:43

    No idea but I used the NHS Everything Genetics offer and the kit was delivered within a few days.

  • Reney says:

    23 Aug23 August 16:15

    My day 2 test arrived today, ordered on 15th August, need it after 30th.

  • JDB says:

    23 Aug23 August 17:09

    The general view on here seemed to be that all these companies were part of some ‘chumocracy’ coining it, but that never seemed realistic. I think many are finding the whole thing more complicated and costly than they realised so aren’t doing at all well. Also, it looks as though many haven’t been charging VAT, so they are going to get a very large bill from HMRC that some probably won’t be able to pay.

• JRC says:

  23 Aug23 August 15:31

  What’s the position on a “self-referral” from an Amex Business card to the personal platinum card? I remember there was a lot of concern for self-referrals a while ago, with Amex shutting down accounts in the USA.

  • Peter K says:

    23 Aug23 August 16:24

    The position is that you can do it, but there’s no guarantee that amex won’t permanently shut you down at some point in the future, potentially even a couple of years in the future like in the US.

• Alan S says:

  23 Aug23 August 15:44

  If BA reroute/rebook you under EC261, how does the booking go through for change/cancellation terms? Is it treated as some sort of comped flight, cash flight or reward seats? Any experience of this?

  • Jody says:

    23 Aug23 August 15:58

    I was told that I had exactly the same cancellation rights as if it was an avios flight (was originally booked with avios and 2 for 1, when re-booked they had to book me on commercial seats as no avios seats left). They were very very clear about this and repeated it several times on the phone to make sure I understood.

    I was more than happy with that to be honest.

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